Biden's Focus on Trump Amidst Republican Debate

President Joe Biden visited San Francisco on Wednesday to raise campaign funds, while a Republican presidential debate was underway in Simi Valley, with seven GOP hopefuls participating.

However, Biden was not paying much attention to the debate because he was already focused on Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner who was not present on the debate stage.

The President has been increasingly calling out Trump by name and referring to him as his “likely opponent” in 2024, signaling a possible rematch of their tumultuous matchup four years earlier.

Biden has been warning of what he sees as major dangers to the nation if he is not re-elected and Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy.

ALSO READ: Updates: Biden and Zelenskyy denounce Russian aggression, stating that evil cannot be trusted, at the UN.

Trump's Campaign Strategy Amidst Republican Debate

As the government shutdown looms this weekend, House Republicans launch impeachment hearings, and the Republican debate unfolds, Trump made a campaign stop in Michigan to court automobile industry workers and to distract attention from the Reagan Library debate participants who are his distant rivals for the GOP nomination.

Biden's western trip this week served as counterprogramming of sorts, drawing a contrast with the GOP logjams in Congress and showcasing what he is getting done.

He is trying to make the case that he will continue to do so as long as he wins a second term.

Biden's Political Priorities and Engagements

During a Tuesday-night fundraiser, Biden told supporters that he is running because important freedoms are at stake, such as the right to choose, the right to vote, and the right to be who you are and love who you love.

These freedoms are being attacked and shredded right now. Earlier on Tuesday, Biden became the first modern-day president to walk a picket line when he joined UAW members in the Detroit area.

The union has expanded its strike against Detroit car companies by walking out of spare-parts warehouses in 20 states, expanding to 25,000 workers after a call for new walkouts at GM and Ford plants.

Trump's Popularity and Republican Views

The President met with science and technology advisors on Wednesday to discuss artificial intelligence, vaccine misinformation, and other concerns.

He said that he did not think a government shutdown was unavoidable and that he did not believe that anything is inevitable when it comes to politics.

When asked what could be done to avoid a shutdown, he said, “If I knew that, I would have done it already.” He then headed to Phoenix in the evening after headlining three Northern California fundraisers.

He avoided, for now, the most famous names and their associated bank accounts in Los Angeles as the actors' strike wears on, even as the writers’ strike ended Tuesday.

Biden paid tribute to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain and gave a democracy-focused address in Arizona, a critical swing state that he won in 2020. Meanwhile, Trump railed against electric vehicles during a speech in Michigan at a nonunionized auto-parts supplier, shortly before the second debate of the primary season got underway without him.

Biden never mentioned the debate, but he told supporters at his final fundraiser of the night that Trump was out for revenge.

The President said, “He’ll seek revenge for what’s happened … you know all the assertions he’s made. Donald Trump does believe we’re a nation driven by anger and fear, and is playing on it.

He says we’re a failed nation. Did you ever think you’d hear a former president of the United States say those kinds of things?”

Trump is facing multiple criminal indictments, including charges related to his role in seeking to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden.

Nonetheless, Trump is the most popular choice among Republicans at this point for the party’s White House nomination. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans - 63% - now say they want him to run again, according to a poll last month from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

That’s up slightly from the 55% who said the same in April when Trump began facing a series of criminal charges.

While 74% of Republicans say they would support Trump in November 2024, 53% of those in the survey say they would not support him if he is the nominee.

An additional 11% say they would probably not support him.

Biden does not fare much better, with 26% overall wanting to see him run again, with 47% of Democrats saying they want him to run, up from 37% in January.